It is generally well known that catheterization can be an important adjunct to healthcare in many instances. This is known to be the case for draining fluid from a cavity in a body and is particularly the case in connection with urinary catheters which serve to drain urine from the bladder. The regular drainage of the bladder is well recognized as an important function for urological health.
For those suffering from abnormalities of the urinary system, intermittent catheterization has been found to be a good option. Those with such abnormalities often find it desirable to use individually packaged, sterile catheters on a regular basis for drainage of urine from the bladder. Among the more important criteria for intermittent catheters is that they provide complete drainage of the bladder.
Similarly, indwelling catheterization is known to be a good option for many patients who are substantially bedridden. Patients who are hospitalized for extended periods of time as well as others who are rendered immobile for various reasons often benefit from the use of Foley catheters. Typically, Foley catheters are recommended by healthcare providers to remain in place for a period of up to around thirty days.
As with intermittent catheters, it is important that Foley catheters ensure substantially complete drainage of the bladder to maintain good urological health.
Unfortunately, minimizing residual urine in the bladder depends on substantially accurate positioning of an intermittent catheter which is oftentimes difficult to ensure. In particular, the lower eye of the intermittent catheter must be accurately positioned with respect to the internal neck of the bladder in order to be relatively certain of removing the maximum amount of urine. Additionally, however, the soft tissue in the neck area of the bladder sometimes has a tendency to get sucked into the eye, making it difficult to completely drain the bladder.
As a result, intermittent catheters present both a positioning/withdrawing challenge and also an eye blocking problem causing difficulty in ensuring substantially complete bladder drainage.
With regard to Foley catheters, an encrustation problem results from a crystalline buildup which usually begins on the catheter eyes and extends into the lumen of the catheter just below the eyes. In this connection, it is known that encrustation can lead to complete blocking of the Foley catheter requiring a catheter change well before the recommended time.
As a result, there are problems with both intermittent catheters and Foley catheters which relate to their ability to ensure complete bladder drainage thereby causing them to be less than fully effective in ensuring good urological health.